“Music is my connection to the world. It guides me to understand my place in relation to others and challenges me to make clear the things I do not understand. I imagine that music is a meeting place at which all people can converse about their unique differences and common stories.” — Jessie Montgomery
Unique differences and common stories, music as meeting place for fellowship and conversation… this is what Fridays with 45th Parallel has become since our first broadcast last May. This Friday will be our 37th show, and features the Pyxis Quartet performing music of Carlos Simon, Jessie Montgomery, and Florence Price, in honor of Black History Month.
“All I know about music is that not many people ever really hear it. And even then, on the rare occasions when something opens within, and the music enters, what we mainly hear, or hear corroborated, are personal, private, vanishing evocations.” – James Baldwin
In honor of Black History Month, Fridays with 45th Parallel presents four programs of music by black artists, starting this week with Unvanishing Evocations, featuring music by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Keyla Orozco, performed by James Shields, Emily Cole, Greg Ewer, Charles Noble, Marilyn de Oliveira, and Maria Garcia.
45th Parallel Universe presents CURRENTS, a collaborative project featuring film, dance, and the music of Shostakovich.
Through the artistic direction of esteemed filmmaker Scott Ballard, the talent of BodyVox Dance Studio, the virtuosity of six musicians, and a small team of artistic minds, we have created so much more than a music video. This project is a work of art in itself.
Shostakovich Symphony No. 15 was written in a little over a month during a period of failing health. This work has been referred to as ambiguous, self referential, enigmatic, and even haunting at times. It is the composer’s tribute to the world. Viktor Derevianko arranged this piece for piano, violin, cello, and three percussionists.
CURRENTS tells the story of the “Loss of Innocence” conceptualized through the lifecycle of water, or of the human loss of innocence when it comes to climate and the environment, visualized through video art, modern dance, and video recording of musicians performing.
We’re partnering with renowned Russian restaurant Kachka to offer culinary experiences to enjoy at home during the premiere event. Pre-order amazing Russian snacks or dinner, for pickup or delivery, here.
Fridays with 45th Parallel: A Cool Yule with Members of the Oregon Symphony Brass Friday, December 11 @ 6:00PM PST Free virtual concert, donations accepted. https://www.45thParallePDX.org
Members of the Oregon Symphony Brass perform holiday classics for brass quintet. Patreon members get access to a post-concert Zoom reception.
Christmas with Cappella Romana Saturday, December 12 @ 7:30PM PST Free virtual concert, donations accepted. https://www.cappellaromana.org
The evening will include selections from our Christmas recordings including When Augustus Reigned, Sun of Justice and carols from Richard Toensing’s Kontakion on the Nativity & Orthodox Christmas Carols.You’ll also see interviews with a number of your favorite Cappella Romana singers.
The Portland Gay Men’s Chorus is proud to present Snowed In!, a special musical broadcast. Snowed In! imagines what would happen if Portland were blanketed in eight feet of snow! Snowed In! will feature a wide array of songs performed by socially-distant chorus members. Appearances by PGMC’s a cappella group – Cascade – and our contemporary dance ensemble – Locomotions – will also be a highlight of the evening. In addition, PGMC welcomes guest artist Jimmie Herrod, a recently featured soloist with the Oregon Symphony and guest vocalist with Portland’s own Pink Martini. The event will conclude with PGMC’s annual holiday tradition of a group sing-along. Tickets are free, however PGMC is asking you to “pay what you can” to help continue the support of our musical mission during this trying time. Opportunities for donations will also be available throughout the broadcast.
Amazonita with A Far Cry Saturday, December 12 @ 5:00PM PST Virtual concert, ticketed event: starting at $8 for 24 hour pass. https://afarcry.org/
“Amazonita” is musically grounded in the cultural traditions of Peru, Colombia, and Brazil – countries that touch the Amazon River and surround the Amazon rainforest. Struck by these natural wonders, the program revels in the awe and beauty of the Earth and ancestral societies, and contemplates how modernity interacts with them. In Milagros (Miracles), Gabriela Lena Frank imagines a visit to her mother’s native Peru and the “little miracles” she encounters along the way, from artifacts of long-gone indigenous civilizations, to the breathtaking vision of Lake Titicaca. Composed and recorded in 1972, Jacqueline Nova’s Creation of the Earth modifies recordings of creation chants of the U’wa peoples of Northeastern Colombia. The soundworld is both beautiful and terrifying, graphically depicting the ways technology and modernity can impact language, traditions, and human culture. Inspired by Bach and Villa-Lobos, Brazilian guitarist Paulinho Nogueira’s painfully lyrical Bachianinhas Nos. 1 and 2 follow in response. Brazilian-American composer Clarice Assad’s energetic Obrigado loosely follows the arc of a traditional Umbanda religious ceremony drawing on Afro-Brazilian Umbanda religious chants and dancesand ending with a “powerful message of gratitude for the gift of life.”
The Portland Gay Men’s Chorus is proud to present Snowed In!, a special musical broadcast. Snowed In! imagines what would happen if Portland were blanketed in eight feet of snow! Snowed In! will feature a wide array of songs performed by socially-distant chorus members. Appearances by PGMC’s a cappella group – Cascade – and our contemporary dance ensemble – Locomotions – will also be a highlight of the evening. In addition, PGMC welcomes guest artist Jimmie Herrod, a recently featured soloist with the Oregon Symphony and guest vocalist with Portland’s own Pink Martini. The event will conclude with PGMC’s annual holiday tradition of a group sing-along. Tickets are free, however PGMC is asking you to “pay what you can” to help continue the support of our musical mission during this trying time. Opportunities for donations will also be available throughout the broadcast.
Open Space: A Far Cry with Violinist Zenas Hsu Wednesday, December 16 @ 4:00PM PST Live stream concert. Ticketed event: $12 admission. https://afarcry.org/
A Far Cry violinist Zenas Hsu will perform an odyssey of some of his favorite pieces. These will include Shih-Hui Chen’s take on folklore and legends from the aboriginal Ami tribe in Taiwan, Steve Mackey’s musical language in recreating texture and light in different rooms of a house, Jessie Montgomery’s rhapsodic and touching homage to J.S. Bach, one of Fritz Kreisler’s ‘fictional’ compositions ‘by’ Pugnani (with a guest appearance by his wife, violinist Janny Joo), and an iconic and fantastical sonata by Grazyna Bacewicz.
Amadeus Chamber Orchestra: Hump Day House Concert Wednesday, December 16 @ 7:00PM PST Free live stream concert. Donations accepted. https://www.amadeuspdx.org/
Violinist Greg Ewer plays Bach’s brilliant Partita in B minor.
Open Space: A Far Cry with Violinist Zenas Hsu Thursday, December 17 @ 4:00PM PST Live stream concert. Ticketed event: $12 admission. https://afarcry.org/
A Far Cry violinist Zenas Hsu will perform an odyssey of some of his favorite pieces. These will include Shih-Hui Chen’s take on folklore and legends from the aboriginal Ami tribe in Taiwan, Steve Mackey’s musical language in recreating texture and light in different rooms of a house, Jessie Montgomery’s rhapsodic and touching homage to J.S. Bach, one of Fritz Kreisler’s ‘fictional’ compositions ‘by’ Pugnani (with a guest appearance by his wife, violinist Janny Joo), and an iconic and fantastical sonata by Grazyna Bacewicz.
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